Subject(s)
Child Abuse, Sexual , Age Factors , Alcoholism/complications , Child , Child Abuse, Sexual/diagnosis , Child Abuse, Sexual/ethnology , Child Abuse, Sexual/prevention & control , Child Abuse, Sexual/statistics & numerical data , Domestic Violence/ethnology , Domestic Violence/statistics & numerical data , Female , Guidelines as Topic , Health Education , Humans , Incest/statistics & numerical data , Indians, North American , Male , Mexico/epidemiology , Mexico/ethnology , Sex FactorsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To describe some characteristics of rape in Mexico City. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Descriptive study of rape victims who attended a specialized institution between 1990 and 1996. A support psychotherapist applied a semistructured questionnaire on the victims characteristics, the aggressor and the circumstances of the rape. RESULTS: A total of 531 victims were studied, 85.8% were females, almost half were minors and the median of scholarity was nine years. All aggressors were males, 62% were known to the victim, 86.7% were relatives or near to the family. Aggression occurred at the home of the victim or aggressor in 55.4% of the cases, 49.2% of the cases occurred in 4 of the 16 City districts. CONCLUSIONS: In the studied population, women were the gender with greatest risk of being raped, except in the 5 to 14 year old group in which boys were in greater risk. Unemployed and underpaid men were the most frequent aggressors. There is a greater risk of being raped by a member of the family, couple or friend than by a stranger, and in the victim's or the aggressor's home more than anywhere else. Findings point to the necessity of establishing preventive programs and providing specialized attention to victims and aggressors.